By Yousef Saba, Jaidaa Taha and Jonathan Saul
DUBAI/LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) – At least three tankers were damaged off the Gulf coast and one seafarer was killed as Iranian retaliation for U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran exposed ships to collateral damage, shipping sources and officials said on Sunday.
Risks to commercial shipping have surged in the past 24 hours, with more than 200 vessels including oil and liquefied gas tankers dropping anchor around the Strait of Hormuz and surrounding waters, shipping data showed on Sunday.
Iran has said it has closed navigation through the critical waterway, prompting Asian governments and refiners – key buyers – to assess oil stockpiles.
Major container shipping lines have rerouted round the Cape of Good Hope.
“The U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran dramatically increases the security risk to ships operating in the Persian Gulf and adjacent waters,” said Jakob Larsen, chief safety and security officer at shipping association BIMCO.
It was not immediately clear who launched the projectiles and drones that targeted or damaged ships on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump said meanwhile that the United States had destroyed nine Iranian navy ships and pummeled Iran’s naval headquarters.
‘SHIPS MAY BE TARGETED DELIBERATELY OR IN ERROR’
“Ships with business connections to U.S. or Israeli interests are more likely to be targeted, but other ships may also be targeted deliberately or in error,” BIMCO’s Larsen said.
A projectile hit the Marshall Islands–flagged product tanker MKD VYOM, killing a crew member on board as the vessel sailed off the coast of Oman, vessel manager V.Ships said on Sunday.
“The vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being struck,” V.Ships Asia said in a statement.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, has died,” the statement said.
The International Maritime Organization, the U.N.’s shipping agency, urged companies to avoid sailing through the affected area until conditions improved.
A Palau-flagged oil tanker under U.S. sanctions was also hit on Sunday off Oman’s Musandam peninsula, injuring four people, the country’s maritime security centre said without specifying what hit the vessel.
Another tanker in the UAE port of Jebel Ali was almost damaged by falling debris from an aerial interception after overnight Iranian attacks targeting Gulf states, maritime security sources said.
A third, oil-bunkering tanker was damaged off the UAE coast, two shipping sources said.
A fourth vessel, an oil products tanker, was targeted with a drone off the coast of the UAE, although it managed to sail without being damaged, maritime security sources said.
Port operations at Jebel Ali have been paused due to the situation, officials said on Sunday.
RISK OF MINES
Vessels were advised to keep clear of the Strait of Hormuz and wider Gulf of Oman because of the risk of retaliatory strikes by Iran, the U.S. transport ministry’s Maritime Administration said separately in a note on Saturday.
“Any U.S.-flagged, owned or crewed commercial vessels that are operating in these areas should maintain a standoff of 30 nautical miles from U.S. military vessels to reduce the risk of being mistaken as a threat,” it said.
There was also the potential risk of mines being laid by Iranian forces in the narrow lanes within the Strait of Hormuz, security sources said.
The Iranian military loaded naval mines on vessels in the Persian Gulf in June, heightening concern in Washington that Tehran was gearing up to establish a Strait of Hormuz blockade, two U.S. officials told Reuters in July.
Maritime sources said they expected war risk insurance rates to surge when underwriters reviewed cover on Monday.
War risk cover is required when sailing into perilous areas and the Lloyd’s of London market has already listed Iran, the Gulf and parts of the Gulf of Oman as high-risk.
“We would estimate that near-term rate increases for marine hull insurance in the Gulf could range from 25% to 50%,” said Dylan Mortimer at insurance broker Marsh.
(Reporting by Yousef Saba, Jaidaa Taha and Jonathan Saul, Additional reporting by Yannis Souliotis, Arathy Somasekhar, Enes Tunagur, Muhammad Al Gebaly and Nadine Awadalla; writing by Jonathan Saul; Editing by Ros Russell, David Goodman and Aidan Lewis)
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